What Brands Need To Know About the LGBTQ+ Community

The LGBTQ+ community in America is young, fast-growing, and diverse. And it should be part of every brand’s growth strategy! Dive into our research for strategic insights on what makes this group unique and how you can connect with them to drive brand growth.

What brands need to know about LGBTQ+ consumers

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But it’s not enough to put rainbows on your advertisements and call it a day. LGBTQ+ consumers and their allies expect brands to back up their words with relevant donations, year-round support, and equality in internal company policy. And they need activations that feel authentic.

To help our members better understand and connect with the LGBTQ+ segment, we’ve created a study that leverages data from 2019 and 2020 Collage Group syndicated research initiatives, broken down by LGBTQ+ status and age groups. The centerpiece is our Cultural Attributes Profile, built from a dataset of almost 1,200 LGBTQ+ consumers!

We start off with some basic demographics of the segment, followed by their unique Cultural Attributes Profile. This profile reveals how they score on important characteristics including: anxiety, rootedness, exceptionalism, independence, adventurousness, and compliance. Then, we look at the LGBTQ+ segment’s influence profile, and specific social issues the group feels strongly about. Finally, our study concludes with a section on tips and takeaways for marketing to the LGBTQ+ segment. Below are three takeaways to get you started.

LGBTQ+ demographics

It’s no secret that America is quickly becoming more and more diverse. One fast-growing group is the LGBTQ+ community. Estimates show this segment includes at least 12 million American adults. And as laws change and societal acceptance increases, more and more people feel comfortable embracing their LGBTQ+ identities and are raising their hands to be counted. And they have money to spend – over $917 billion in purchasing power in 2017!

When you factor in LGBTQ+ allies—Americans that support the drive for greater LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance—the market size and spending balloon. Any brand that wants to succeed in 21st Century America needs to understand who these people are and how to connect with them.

Key takeaways include:

  1. The U.S. LGBTQ+ segment will continue to grow in both size and share of total population as society becomes more accepting of differing gender and sexual identities. Growth will be greatest among younger consumers who feel more comfortable self-identifying as LGBTQ+.
  2. LGBTQ+ consumers, across both the New Wave (18-39 years old) and 40+ segments, are similar in their core values to the New Wave as a whole. This is a result of New Wave consumers growing up in an inherently diverse society which celebrates and embraces once-marginalized identities.
  3. As LGBTQ+ stories and influencers captivate U.S. audiences, members and allies of this segment have higher expectations for authentic representations of LGBTQ+ individuals and content. This may result in accusations of “pinkwashing” when brands fail to meet these expectation
Many Americans are LGBTQ+ allies

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